be a little bit defensive and clearly the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff. it doesn't seem to be having an impact. i find that remarkable. >> john, that isn't within ben bernanke's power. they're almost a lone actor here, responding to everything. >> that's right. in fact, ben bernanke has created a bigger put, as you talked about the greenspan put, but the bernanke put has been explicit. he's talked about the transmission of quantitative easing through the equity market as being a major transmission mechanism of the monetary policy. >> sure. >> i think that's a little bit worrying. because if the fed is not willing to let the market tighten, when will they take liquidity off the table when inflation threatens. >> gentlemen, we will leave it there. john and mark, thank you. we will, of course, see what the fed does this afternoon. stay tuned to cnbc for live coverage of that decision. it all starts at 12:15 eastern. hear what the federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has to say to the type of criticism that we just heard live on cnbc. that news conference th